Walking By Faith (May/June 2026 Newsletter)
- Jul 18
- 6 min read
Ever since I became a missionary, God made it very clear to me: it's not based on what I can do, but what God does for me and through me. And God gave me clear directions on how I'm supposed to do it. He told me to depend on Him, not on myself, and He was going to provide everything. But these past few years, especially once I became a husband and a father of 4, it's been hard.
Ministry still continued like it's always been, but I picked up a few side jobs to be able to provide more for my family. I was a website administrator, a video editor and producer for a small company and as a freelancer, a book translator, and I even did unboxing videos for people who asked of my services. Now imagine all of this AND being a full-time missionary, running and administrating a whole nonprofit all by myself. Needless to say, I was more than busy. I got to the point where, honestly, I was doing just enough for the ministry to be able to do these other jobs. I was spread very thin. Now, a lot of these jobs were "when needed," but that constant knowing that a job could appear any minute was pretty stressful. Plus, having to find the time to set aside to be able to do these jobs was work in itself. But I felt that I needed to do these jobs and provide for my family. I felt that, as head of my household, that I needed to be the one who provided. So, because of this, I invested less and less time into ministry to be able to share my time with these other jobs that I was doing.
Now, did these jobs help our family? Yes they did. Did they help ministry, too? Yes. Thanks to working these jobs, we were able to celebrate Kids Day with our kids and have a ginormous inflatable obstacle course for all of them and the kids in the community. But, could God have provided through different means like He had told me several times throughout the years? Yes. And before you say, "Well, Daniel, God provided you with those jobs. He gave you the means to work so that things could be provided for," I get what you're saying, and God does do that. But I shouldn't have been doing it that way. God told me a few different times when I tried working and getting jobs before that, "I didn't send you to Tijuana to work other jobs. I sent you to Tijuana to serve me. Let me take care of you." And when I let go of those jobs, God showed up like never before and provided in every single way: financially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. He moved in the ministry a whole lot, and we had consistent, large numbers of kids coming to all of our programs. But then I got married and changed from a family of 1 to a family of 6, and I got scared. I thought I'd be a failure if I didn't "man up" and work several jobs to be able to buy things for my family. I started to listen to those around me and started to care more about what they thought of me instead of what God already said to me. I started to depend on what I could do instead of remembering what God could do and already was doing. And things started to go downhill. Stress was at an all-time high. There was never enough time. I spent less time preparing for ministry and with my own family, and there was a disconnect. Less and less kids were coming to our programs. And to top it all off, there never was enough money although I was working several jobs. It even got to a point where I would cancel certain ministry things so that I could work. Like I said, the focus was all on me and what I could do, not on what God could do. I said everything was in His hands, but I said that while clenching everything in my fists and not letting it go. For three years, I was moving God out of the equation, and I started to have more faith in me than in Him.
This past Thursday, I went to work an in-home computer tech job, and that job pays good money. But I had been praying and trying to connect with God way more than what I had been. Don't get me wrong, I was spending time with God, but it turned more into routine than an actual connection. I noticed the disconnect and started to change that. And that Thursday, when I normally put on music or a podcast, I spent the whole entire 3 hour drive there and back talking with God. Something didn't feel right in my spirit, and I knew what it was. Here I was again, going to work instead of doing ministry like I should have been. Again, I was trusting in my own efforts instead of relying on God like He told me to. But this time, I felt wrong about it. I felt in my spirit that this wasn't the answer to my problems. Did the job help? Yes, a whole lot. But I didn't need to be working. God was my provider, but I was looking to other jobs to provide. Again, please don't get me wrong. Is working bad? Not at all. It is 100% necessary. But I was already working. I was working for the best boss ever, and He already had promised me that my salary was unlimited. But that wasn't good enough for me. I was so wrong. I cried during that drive and made a hard decision: I was no longer going to work extra jobs and was going to fully rely on God again like in the beginning. That's what He told me to do, and I should have been doing it. In that moment, I started to solely depend on Him again. I got home and talked with my wife about it. We cried and prayed together, but we both knew that this was what we had to do.
The very next day, I got a message from someone saying that they wanted to donate $600 to our Kids Camp (which is next week and we're still looking for sponsors! Please click here to donate!) and also send us money to our family so that we could do something special that weekend. The next day, we did an event with another church and had the biggest attendance that we've had in a long time (images above). So many kids signed up for the soccer team, and a new family came to church on Sunday. Things were going up so quick. God reminded me through all of this, "I told you I would provide, didn't I?" Yes, God, You did. And I'm so sorry for doubting You.
Now, not everyone's situation is the same, but it was clear what God told me since the beginning. And as soon as I step into Him again and walk by faith, not by sight, everything just gets a million times better. Was it nice having the extra money to do nicer things for my family? Yeah. But is actually feeling stress-free, completely in peace, resting in God, and knowing that everything is taken care of so much better than that? So much so. And I wouldn't change it for the world. Having the God of the universe with unlimited resources take care of my family and the ministry that's His to begin with is the best way to do it. I don't have it all, but He does, and He's promised me that He'll never leave me nor forsake me. He's called me to do this job, and He's going to provide everything for this employee to do the job He's asked me to do. And He's able to even bless us and give us things we want, too. He's the best boss one could ever have, and I will never doubt that again.
"Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, 'I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.' So we can say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?'" - Hebrews 13:5-6
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